Recent advances in recovery strategies of lead paste from retired lead-acid batteries

Promoting the high-quality development of the recycled lead industry is not only an essential guarantee for lead resources to enter a virtuous cycle of manufacture-expense-regeneration but also a vital strategy to alleviate the depletion of lead resources, effectively reduce production costs, and alleviate environmental pollution, which is of a great strategic significance for the sustainable development of the lead industry. This paper reviewed the latest research progress on lead recovery from spent lead acid battery paste. Based on the resource characteristics of lead-acid batteries and the economic benefits of recycled products, the new recycling technologies targeting metal lead, lead oxide, lead sulfide, and functional lead-based materials were summarized in detail. It also introduced the advantages, disadvantages, and critical links of recovery methods for different lead products, and then presented the applications of recycled products in the field of batteries and sensors, combining the downstream applications of the lead industry chain. From actual application perspectives, the future development direction of recovery and regeneration lead products from the waste lead paste has finally been prospected.